Ethical Hacking: What It Is & Examples

An ethical hacker is a security expert who works to gain unauthorised access to a network, system, application, data, or device in an attempt to identify potential security vulnerabilities. 

Ethical hacking is a means of finding and exploiting potential weak points in a computer network or system in order to fix these issues before a cyberattack occurs. 

Ethical hackers follow the same routes that malicious hackers do in their attempts to breach a system. The difference is that they are doing so for legitimate purposes, while “black hat” hackers are doing so to commit cybercrime. 

Ethical hacking can prevent breaches and cyberattacks by securing potential vulnerabilities within an organisation’s infrastructure, system, or application.

What is ethical hacking?

Ethical hacking is a proactive measure for finding and determining if a system or computer network has security vulnerabilities. An ethical hacker, also called a white hat hacker, is a security professional who employs traditional hacking methods to attempt to compromise a system in an effort to identify and fix potential security risks. 

Ethical hacking will often employ many of the same techniques as a malicious or bad actor to gain and maintain access to privileged information and systems. An ethical hacker is often tasked with thinking like a cybercriminal to determine where and how a system or application can be breached or attacked. 

Ethical hacking can involve the following:

• Identifying vulnerabilities and security weaknesses within an organisation’s systems and networks
• Prevention of cyberattacks and keeping malicious cybercriminals from accessing and stealing sensitive and privileged data and information
• Designing and implementing security strategies to fix potential security weaknesses and shore up vulnerabilities
• Securing networks to help deter possible security breaches
• Safeguarding assets and information to instil trust in an organisation 

Essentially, ethical hacking is legally breaking into a system or computer to test and strengthen an organisation’s cybersecurity. 

Key concepts of ethical hacking

Ethical hackers need to follow specific protocols to remain above board and within the approved range of the assignment the organisation is tasking them with. Concepts include the following:

1. Remain legal and obtain approval. Ethical hacking requires that the security assessment be approved by the appropriate parties within an organisation before the hack is performed. 
2. The scope must be clearly defined. The organisation should set boundaries so the ethical hacker knows exactly what the scope of the assignment is and how to remain legal and within the bounds of the intended assessment.
3. Data sensitivity must be respected. An ethical hack may often come in contact with sensitive information, and the ethical hacker will need to treat this data with care. Often, an organisation will request that an ethical hacker sign a nondisclosure agreement and agree to set terms and conditions before performing the assessment. 
4. Vulnerabilities are reported. Whatever the ethical hack uncovers in terms of security vulnerabilities and risk factors should be reported to the organisation. 
5. Give advice on securing systems. Once vulnerabilities are exposed, an ethical hacker should present options on how to fix these issues and make the system more secure from potential breaches or future attacks.

Types of hackers

There are three main types of hackers: a white hat hacker, black hat hacker, and grey hat hacker. There are also the lesser-known red hat hacker, green hat hacker, and blue hat hacker. 

• White hat hacker: This ethical hacker is a hired cybersecurity professional whose intention is to legally attack a network, system, application, device, or program to find and expose potential vulnerabilities. The white hat hacker works with an organis